


revive

by downmoon



Series: a lifetime [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12155394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/downmoon/pseuds/downmoon
Summary: It is not a gentle awakening, like his own had been. Instead, Link is startled backwards, away from the pod, as the sliver of a figure within wakes up with a ragged gasp.He’s like a wild thing, Link realizes, dripping and shaking and clawing breath after breath into his lungs, looking around frantically as he takes in his new surroundings.There is no calm nudge into consciousness, like Link had experienced. Instead, the Sheikah seems to have been torn out of his sleep. Almost like he wasn’t supposed to have been awakened in the first place.





	revive

It is not a gentle awakening, like his own had been. Instead, Link is startled backwards, away from the pod, as the sliver of a figure within wakes up with a ragged gasp.

He’s hauling himself up before the pod even finishes draining, long silvery blond hair clinging to his bare shoulders, breathing like he’s just run a mile (or climbed the precarious ledges up to this tiny resurrection cave). He’s like a wild thing, Link realizes, dripping and shaking and clawing breath after breath into his lungs, looking around frantically as he takes in his new surroundings. Link keeps a cautious distance; this person, this Sheikah, he behaves like a predator cornered. Link’s long learned how dangerous those creatures can be, and the Sheikah looks like he could kill with his bare hands if necessary. That’s not a risk he’s willing to take.

He shrugs off his pack, and sinks slowly down into a crouch, eyes on the Sheikah all the while, the Sheikah staring back at him. He pulls out a blanket and steps a little closer to the pod. The Sheikah shivers in the cold air of the cave, but still eyes the blanket with trepidation. Link gives it a little shake, and one willowy arm slips out slowly to grasp it with near nerveless fingers.

Link stares, then, hovering. The Sheikah has begun to slowly inch his way out of the pod, but it’s different from Link’s own awakening. He was eased into it, like waking from a good night’s rest with a gentle nudge, but the Sheikah seems to have been torn out of his sleep. Almost like he wasn’t supposed to have been awakened in the first place.

He manages to swing one leg over the edge of the pod, the other joining shortly. He sits there, then, seemingly gathering his strength. The blanket goes slowly around his shoulders, most of the wet hair is pushed to the side, and the tips of his toes just touch the floor, but it still appears to be a challenge for him to stand up. Link wants to help, wants to reach out and offer some of his own strength, but the Sheikah still looks wary, and far more alert than reason would allow. They’re warriors, Link supposes, their history at least, even if the residents of Kakariko Village were almost disarmingly friendly.

He doesn’t do anything until the Sheikah’s knees buckle, a short moment after he’d slipped the entirety of his weight off the edge of the pod. Link darts forward almost before he can stop himself, but his caution makes him just an instant too late. The Sheikah hits the cold ground and winces, but makes no move to lift himself again.

“Where am I?” he asks. His voice is raspy, soft, a delicate trace of an accent from a time long past framing the edge of his words. Link clears his throat.

“Mountains,” he says lowly.

The Sheikah regards him, studying his face as if he’s trying to place him.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“Link.”

The Sheikah squints at him, the same look Link’s seen so many times before from people who remember. He’s half expecting the usual- how familiar he looks, if only he had the _sword_ -

But his face apparently does not prompt anything in the Sheikah, as he only remains silent. Link wonders how much he knows, how many memories he’s holding onto, if any.

He clears his throat again, and dares conversation when it’s clear the Sheikah has exhausted his questions.

“Name?”

The Sheikah looks up at him with those piercing eyes, and Link almost feels like squirming. That stare...it’s like he’s being picked apart by the Sheikah, like everything he’s experienced since waking up is being pulled out of his mind.

“I don’t remember,” the Sheikah answers finally. He looks away, shifting the blanket a little tighter around his shoulders. “I...don’t remember anything. Who I am, _where_ I am. Do you-?”

Link shakes his head quickly. He didn’t even know there was another resurrection cave; he’d only stumbled onto it by chance, seeking a little nook for shelter, so he could warm up and rest for the night. The Sheikah hums low in his throat, and shakes his head a little, like he’s clearing away unwanted thoughts.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” he asks. Link shifts his stance ever so slightly.

“Hurts,” he answers, his fingertips pressing briefly against the dip of his collarbone. The raw ache in his throat hasn’t disappeared since he woke up, and he’s beginning to have his suspicions that something had happened before he was sealed in the cave’s chamber. Whenever he speaks, it feels like it’s through a mouthful of broken glass and sand.

The Sheikah’s eyes cut towards him briefly, but return to whatever spot on the wall he’s looking at. Link takes a step back, and then another, back towards his pack. He left firewood somewhere...ah, there, by the mouth of the cave. Flint, good. The flame catches quickly, and soon a little campfire burns merrily in the entrance of the cave, despite the steady snow building up outside.

Link pulls clothes out of his pack; he’d searched the cave thoroughly when he’d first stumbled through the entrance, but it was utterly empty of anything except the pod and the sleeping Sheikah. Link at least had some clothing, as threadbare as it was, and plentiful food beyond the walls of his cave. There is nothing here for the Sheikah, like whoever had lain him to rest didn’t want him to leave.

He has a warm shirt and heavy trousers, gloves in his pack somewhere. Enough food to get them through the night and down the mountain. He stacks the clothing in a neat pile and holds it out towards the Sheikah. He looks up at Link in surprise as he carefully takes the bundle.

“I’ll help you,” Link murmurs, “get out of here. Find your name.”

“Have you nothing better to do?”

Link almost laughs. The press of time is crushing, but it’s not like he can just-

“-leave you.”

The Sheikah drops his gaze, one hand pressed over the pile of clothes.

“Thank you, then,” he says. “I’ll be...grateful to you.”

Link nods once, sharp, and turns back to his pack. Tomorrow will be a long day. 

**Author's Note:**

> but what if sheik was in breath of the wild?????


End file.
